US help.

[Shiny Things]

i went to west coast in july 2015, planning to visit the states again next year (easter period), is it a good time to travel? will probably do new york and florida.

Depends if you want to pick up college dudes/chicks (delete as appropriate). Around Easter is Spring Break time, when college students flood into Florida to get drunk and party. The northeast coast is going to be lovely that time of year - it'll be the start of spring in NYC, and you might even get to see the cherry blossoms if you go to DC - but Florida's going to be mayhem (and super expensive, because all the hotels will be crowded).

The weeks of March 4th and March 11th are peak Spring Break periods this year. If you manage to avoid those, you should be fine; by the week of March 25th, basically everyone on the east coast is back in school. (West coast runs a bit later this year - the UC system takes the week of the 25th off - but not a lot of Cal students are going to go as far as Florida.)

Day 1-4: San Francisco (Tourist Spots - Bay Area and Downtown, 1 or 2 Theme Parks)

What theme parks are you going to go to in San Francisco?

Day 6-8: Arrive in Las Vegas (Red Rock Canyon, Grand Canyon, Death Valley)

Any feedback or places to recommend for areas that I may have dedicated to short or long a time for?

You're not going to be able to do all of these. Death Valley and Grand Canyon are each full-day trips from Las Vegas; you're not going to have any time to explore Vegas itself.

Better bet: do DVNP on the way from Yosemite to Vegas; spend an extra day in Vegas; and do Grand Canyon as a day-trip from Vegas. (Pro tip: do the South Rim, not the West Rim.)

Is it feasible to drive in San Francisco or should I just hire a car only when I am about to leave for Las Vegas?

No - definitely don't rent a car in SF. Public transport is fine; you don't need the car until you're about to do the drive to Yosemite.

 

[Shiny Things]

thank you for pointing out the thing I had pointed out.

Yeah, my bad - I figured "this dude's going to be doing a lot of driving in those ulu places, so it's worth pointing out that terrestrial radio only reaches so far". That's what I get for posting before my third cup of coffee...!

 

[invisible999]

There's not going to be any FM radio out in Death Valley.

My own and personal definition of 'in the middle of nowhere' - this is the case when your car does not pick up any radio stations no only in FM, but in AM as well.

US-93/95 going north - 200 miles driving - 4 hours. Saw 4 (four) cars coming in opposite direction during all these four hours. I would not wanna to have any problem with a car there...

 

[xtc 88]

hi shiny

SF road trip to yosemite valley :-
there are 2 options , use HW 120 or HW 140 ? pro n cons

regards

 

[Shiny Things]

hi shiny

SF road trip to yosemite valley :-
there are 2 options , use HW 120 or HW 140 ? pro n cons

regards

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Both are nice. (Since you're probably heading south on 140 afterward, you might as well take 120, though.)

 

[vofzxy]

can i ask if USA has a tax back concept?
from what i was told... there aint such a thing.

also, any advice on buying apple products from USA ?
global warrenty right? refurbished ones will be cheaper then brand new SG goods ?

 

[Shiny Things]

can i ask if USA has a tax back concept?
from what i was told... there aint such a thing.

Correct, there's not. The reason is that sales tax in the USA is applied by the states, not by the federal government, and the rates vary between states (and even between cities! If you really want to make your head spin, here's the list of all the different sales tax rates in California). So it's tough (if not impossible) to tell how much any particular person should claim back, and where they should be able to claim it back from.

If you're really buying A LOT of stuff, the best places to shop are Oregon (zero sales tax) and Hawaii (4-5% sales tax). Montana, Delaware, NH, and Alaska also have zero state sales tax, but you're probably not headed to any of those places (though you should - Montana and Alaska are lovely, and I'm told New Hampshire's nice in the autumn as well).

also, any advice on buying apple products from USA ?
global warrenty right? refurbished ones will be cheaper then brand new SG goods ?

Apple's refurbs come with a one-year limited warranty, which I think - not 100% sure about this, but I think - covers international service as well.

You need to buy them online, but you can - I only just discovered this - have refurbs shipped to an Apple Store for pickup, which means you don't need to go through the headaches of finding a delivery address; a lot of companies (Apple included) won't ship to hotel addresses. The Apple Store pickup lets you get around this.

This is actually a bloody good idea - if you want cheap Apple gear while you're over here travelling around the States, buy it refurbished and have it shipped to a convenient Apple Store so you can pick it up on your way through. Same great products, same warranty, but 15% cheaper.

 

[patryn33]

can i ask if USA has a tax back concept?
from what i was told... there aint such a thing.

also, any advice on buying apple products from USA ?
global warrenty right? refurbished ones will be cheaper then brand new SG goods ?

Any Refurb items are cheaper.
U can check out prices online
http://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

Ppl have got home a range of stuff
I.e.
http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/more-ways-to-shop-1/outlet-and-refurbished-2/outlet-and-refurbished-3/102020231/
https://www.vitamix.com/Shop/Certified-Reconditioned-Series
http://dellrefurbished.com

 

[newjersey]

hi ST,

what are your views on Tesla?

do u drive in states?

are u keen on getting a model X, model S or model 3?

 

[invisible999]

Apple's refurbs come with a one-year limited warranty, which I think - not 100% sure about this, but I think - covers international service as well.

You need to buy them online, but you can - I only just discovered this - have refurbs shipped to an Apple Store for pickup, which means you don't need to go through the headaches of finding a delivery address; a lot of companies (Apple included) won't ship to hotel addresses. The Apple Store pickup lets you get around this.

I think 1 year warranty depends on a product. New iphones are coming with 3 month warranty and I would doubt that refurb ones would come with 1 year. Plus, it is very rarely that Apple sells refurb iphones.

If you want to buy iphone (EXCEPT the very latest v7) in States, either new or refurb, make sure that you buy Sprint version. Otherwise 4G will not work in Singapore or Asia.

 

[invisible999]

are u keen on getting a model X, model S or model 3?

If you want Model 3, the earliest you can get it would be 2019 - there are 400 000 people in front of you waiting for their delivery.

 

[newjersey]

If you want Model 3, the earliest you can get it would be 2019 - there are 400 000 people in front of you waiting for their delivery.

are u kidding?

almost 0.5m people in front of me, if I place order???

 

[vofzxy]

Correct, there's not. The reason is that sales tax in the USA is applied by the states, not by the federal government, and the rates vary between states (and even between cities! If you really want to make your head spin, here's the list of all the different sales tax rates in California). So it's tough (if not impossible) to tell how much any particular person should claim back, and where they should be able to claim it back from.

If you're really buying A LOT of stuff, the best places to shop are Oregon (zero sales tax) and Hawaii (4-5% sales tax). Montana, Delaware, NH, and Alaska also have zero state sales tax, but you're probably not headed to any of those places (though you should - Montana and Alaska are lovely, and I'm told New Hampshire's nice in the autumn as well).



Apple's refurbs come with a one-year limited warranty, which I think - not 100% sure about this, but I think - covers international service as well.

You need to buy them online, but you can - I only just discovered this - have refurbs shipped to an Apple Store for pickup, which means you don't need to go through the headaches of finding a delivery address; a lot of companies (Apple included) won't ship to hotel addresses. The Apple Store pickup lets you get around this.

This is actually a bloody good idea - if you want cheap Apple gear while you're over here travelling around the States, buy it refurbished and have it shipped to a convenient Apple Store so you can pick it up on your way through. Same great products, same warranty, but 15% cheaper.

Any Refurb items are cheaper.
U can check out prices online
http://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

Ppl have got home a range of stuff
I.e.
http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/more...rbished-2/outlet-and-refurbished-3/102020231/
https://www.vitamix.com/Shop/Certified-Reconditioned-Series
http://dellrefurbished.com

I think 1 year warranty depends on a product. New iphones are coming with 3 month warranty and I would doubt that refurb ones would come with 1 year. Plus, it is very rarely that Apple sells refurb iphones.

If you want to buy iphone (EXPECT the very latest v7) in States, either new or refurb, make sure that you buy Sprint version. Otherwise 4G will not work in Singapore or Asia.

WAH WAH
TANKS EVERYBARDI TANKS !

im just headed to NYC, i guess i have to watch my spending, cannot buy too much UA

im not getting an iphone, mum thinking of an iPad actually.

 

[Shiny Things]

hi ST,

what are your views on Tesla?

do u drive in states?

are u keen on getting a model X, model S or model 3?

So I just traded in my beloved Corvette, because it was too impractical (that said, if what you care about is bang-for-the-buck performance, nothing beats a Corvette - the base model Corvette will beat a Porsche 911 GT3 off the line and you'll still get change from $60,000. If you're over here and you want to rent a real American sports-car for a big road-trip: get a 'Vette!).

The Model S was one of the cars I looked at to replace the 'Vette, and it was a pretty close-run thing. Tesla makes fantastic cars: full of bells and whistles; plush interiors; and phenomenal performance (yeah, I'm a massive rev-head).

The thing that made me change my mind was the range: I like long road-trips, and the petrol cars I was looking at all get 400-500 miles of freeway driving on a tank, but a Tesla's not even going to reach 300 miles before I have to pull over and spend half an hour charging. That was a dealbreaker for me, but if Tesla ever builds a car that can do 400 miles between charges, I'll be first in line to buy one.

 

[invisible999]

are u kidding?

almost 0.5m people in front of me, if I place order???

Did you try to do some googling?

In the filing, the company confirms that as of 15 May, it held 373,000 Model 3 reservations, the number possibly trimmed down for a number of reasons.

You place order right now, earliest you will get the card will be in 2019. And these 375K people are willing to wait and each of them put $1000 deposit towards the order.

The thing that made me change my mind was the range: I like long road-trips, and the petrol cars I was looking at all get 400-500 miles of freeway driving on a tank, but a Tesla's not even going to reach 300 miles before I have to pull over and spend half an hour charging. That was a dealbreaker for me, but if Tesla ever builds a car that can do 400 miles between charges, I'll be first in line to buy one.

I would wait the second installment of Model S which most likely will come with 400 miles range battery. But even now, with supercharger network one can see that recharging it across major highways is not a problem. Heck, after driving 2.5h with 75mhp, I'd be happy to stop for 30 min for a walk/stretch.

But in a way, I personally would wait for a car which would not have steering wheel and will drive around and earn me money when I am sitting in office.

 

[patryn33]

I think 1 year warranty depends on a product. New iphones are coming with 3 month warranty and I would doubt that refurb ones would come with 1 year. Plus, it is very rarely that Apple sells refurb iphones.

If you want to buy iphone (EXCEPT the very latest v7) in States, either new or refurb, make sure that you buy Sprint version. Otherwise 4G will not work in Singapore or Asia.

I must have missed the news, can provide source?

 

[patryn33]

But in a way, I personally would wait for a car which would not have steering wheel and will drive around and earn me money when I am sitting in office.

U see taxi companies retrenching ppl going that route.
Uber, lyft, didi etc will be rolling out a fleet too..
private owners trying to make $$... sure these companies will make gov come up with some laws to prevent that from happening..

 

[patryn33]

WAH WAH
TANKS EVERYBARDI TANKS !

im just headed to NYC, i guess i have to watch my spending, cannot buy too much UA

im not getting an iphone, mum thinking of an iPad actually.

LOL enjoy shopping.. u don't have to be in NYC to blow a few Gs.

 

[invisible999]

I must have missed the news, can provide source?

Did I write 'new'? Grrr, meant refurb ones, if you manage to buy them. New are standard 1y warranty but one needs to check if warranty is worldwide.

U see taxi companies retrenching ppl going that route.
Uber, lyft, didi etc will be rolling out a fleet too..
private owners trying to make $$... sure these companies will make gov come up with some laws to prevent that from happening..

US is not France where Uber folks are arrested, or Malaysia/Indonesia where Uber drivers are beaten up.

You can try to go against the progress but it will be pretty much the same as trying to stand in front of moving train.

 

[boiboi123]

Is this worthwhile to get? Since people are having issue with Starhub prepaid sim card.

https://www.changirecommends.com/deal.aspx?id=1804

not sure about this but if you dont need connectivity right away, just walk into any tmobile shop, you can easily buy a sim card for USD 30 which gives unlimited text, data (i think) etc.

https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-international-tourist-plan